Continuous population registers existing for the Belgian village of La Hulpe from the period 1846 to 1880 are transcribed integrally into machine-readable form. The analysis of this material, to investigate the beginning of the fertility decline, will stress the longitudinal and dynamic aspects of population at the individual and the household level. The emphasis of the project is on inquiring into the circumstances under which contraception was progressively accepted by selected groups in the village. The determinants and correlates of contraceptive use, and fertility decline, will be studied from data on couples and individuals, taking into account personal and ecological characteristics, within the broad framework of household. Special attention is given to the household cycle and its dynamics. Economic and social data on the individuals will be drawn from a variety of contemporary sources, land records, taxation and voting lists, vital registration, etc.